A proposal to merge 3 Isle of Wight Town and Parish Councils into 1, covering The Bay area, has been met with mixed reactions.
The idea was proposed at Sandown Town Council’s annual public meeting on Monday by resident Bob Blezzard who said that amalgamating Sandown and Shanklin Town Councils and Lake Parish Council, creating Sandown Shanklin Urban District Council, would be the best way forward.
It has been done before but Councillor Heather Humby, who served in the combined authority, said it did not work and Sandown was always treated as a poor relative, so she was totally opposed to the proposal.
Mr Blezzard argued it would lower the council tax precept payment for Sandown residents, which is higher than in neighbouring parishes, but for a comparable level of service. He called that ‘a serious injustice’ and went on to say that the proposal would increase the tax level for those in Lake and Shanklin, which they may not like, but that together the single council would be greater than the sum of its parts.
Sandown Mayor, Cllr Paddy Lightfoot, said that in his opinion the areas had different numbers of public toilets, playgrounds, and skateparks they were responsible for, and they didn’t have a lifeguard service, so it was not comparable. He feared the reduced precept for Sandown residents would mean the closure of services in the town so it would hardly be a success. Cllr Lightfoot said he would not support it and would prefer to see the councils continue to work together and strengthen those relationships.
1 resident said it seemed to be a reasonable proposal and was surprised at the arguments against it. Another said Sandown needed its own pride and to be responsible for its own town, while another questioned whether those in the neighbouring areas would want to pay for improvements in Sandown.
The reality, they said, would be that services would be cut and it would be out of the town’s control when they are just a 3rd of the Bay again.
No official decision was made although Mr Blezzard was encouraged to consult with residents and the other areas and to bring it back to the council if he got support.
Neighbouring towns/parishes shouldn’t be required to support Sandown. It should be the Isle of Wight council providing support if there is a special case to do so.
Totally agree. With the amount of decay and derelict buildings/hotels, I believe the IOW Council should step up and support poor Sandown. It could be such a beautiful holiday destination if everything was cleared up and redeveloped one way or another. Beautiful beach and esplanade with the added bonus of the pier.
All the derelict buildings in Sandown should be compulsory
purchased and re-developed.
Why should the owners of the old Ocean Hotel in Sandown that takes up most of the
High Street units and Sandown esplanade be allowed to bring the whole of
Sandown down.
It affects many other property owners and businesses in Sandown.
Does no one on the Island control Tourism
On the recent Alan Titchmarsh TV show it did not expose what a dump
Sandown is, people who arrive on Holiday will be disgusted with the state of
Sandown.
IW Council sort it out F.F.S
.
Agreed Nigel. Anybody who has seen the Titchmarsh show and decides to book a holiday in Sandown, they will never recover from the shock when they see it in the flesh.
The better homes and families in Shanklin should not be funding the HMO’s and council / housing association dwellers in low class areas such as Lake and Sandown.
Our property prices and thus council taxes are high to reflect such.
So raise the precepts in Lake and let them go to the food banks if struggling The residents over breed feral trash let them pay for their drug haddled hoards
Let the squabbling begin. Local issues will be lost in the melee of who’s paying for the tea and sandwiches.
I love the fact that people say it won’t work. Has anyone looked at the state of Lake and Sandown recently?